Mr. Sun Tea Palo Alto — Restaurant in Palo Alto

I had really hoped this place would live up to my expectations since the owner is from Taiwan. Also seeing their tapioca is handy made in store, I was super excited to see this is done!!

However, other than the looks and cute interior the tea experience has been disappointing: I ordered three brothers milk tea with boba, pudding and grass jelly.

First sip of tea - tea flavor is diluted. Tapioca is randomly shaped - boba is ball / aka called in Taiwan 'pearl' they are round not rectangular or random shaped. Ordered less ice, it does not feel like it is any different from regular ice.. I'd this is true less ice, not sure how much drink there really is with full ice. Cup is paper which is great, but that also means I can't see the ice level nor the ingredients within...so can't really judge the balance between boba, grass jelly and pudding. Pudding flavor is lacking.. tastes better at 85degree bakery. 50% sugar level is still pretty sweet which is what I found common in the Palo Alto area ... Very inconstancy of sugar level... Got more sweet as I drink.. means the drink wasn't mixed well. Tapioca, consistency is very random. Some are Q, some are not. So I know the store can get to the Q level.

85 degrees have a better balance between tapioca as well as the pudding - pudding flavor is there.

Kudos on hand made tapioca, but please ensure that it passes your...

TLDR; mr. sun has a good assortment of milk teas and fruit teas. they make their boba in-house. their drinks are pretty creamy too and run a little sweet.

i've been to the mr. sun in palo alto, cupertino, and mountain view. the locations/drinks are sometimes a bit inconsistent but i've usually had a good experience.

there is a decent amount of seating at this location. order at two kiosks (feels a little impersonal) but service is decently efficient.

// brown sugar boba milk tea ($5.50) // their boba is always nice and chewy with brown sugar flavor. milk tea is also pretty creamy, definitely more milky vs. a tea flavor but i like it like that. mr. sun drinks do run sweet so i'd recommend getting a sugar level down than normal since the boba already has brown sugar too.

i've also had the jasmine milk tea (less strong tea flavor), earl gray milk tea, and the milk foam oolong tea. i was pleasantly surprised by the milk foam oolong tea, as it wasn't too...

I have been at other Mr. Sun other location before. This one is in downtown Palo Alto. The interior is cozy. Next to the cashier, there are many empty non alkhohol beer bottles line up. For me, it doesn't really look good, especially since it seems dusty. When we were there, the ordering machine broke, and you can do cash only or order online. Looks like they are not prepared for it. We ordered grapfruit green tea with crystal boba with 20 or 25 % sweetness. It is quite pricey for a boba drink to be $8+. The order was ready pretty quickly. Interestingly, the crystal boba texture is like regular honey boba, not the same as all other boba shops, which has crystal boba as topping options. With the sweetness level which we ordered, for me it is good enough. It is not too sweet and you can enjoy the grape fruit. The tea, I think, is a bit stronger, but I like it. I like boba, but I don't like...